Monti Sees Berlusconi Refraining From Threat to Topple Coalition

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Former Italian Prime Minister Mario
Monti said he expects Silvio Berlusconi to refrain from carrying
out threats to bring down the coalition government in his fight
to contain the fallout from his tax-fraud conviction.

Monti, 70, is head of the third-biggest party in the
government and has been associated with Berlusconi, a three-time
ex-premier, since the 1990s through political appointments,
alliances and rivalries.

“Mr. Berlusconi in recent years and months has most of the
time behaved like a statesman,” Monti said today in a Bloomberg
Television interview with Guy Johnson from Cernobbio, Italy.
“Responsible behavior, not by Berlusconi’s party, but by
Berlusconi himself is likely.”

Berlusconi said on Aug. 30 that he would bring down the
government if Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party
votes to oust him from the Senate. He softened his rhetoric a
day later, saying he wasn’t issuing an ultimatum and he wants
the government to continue. Still, allies including Renato
Brunetta, chief whip of Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party in
the lower house of parliament, have kept pressure on.

Berlusconi faces potential expulsion from parliament
because he was convicted of tax fraud and last month exhausted
his final appeal. The Democratic Party, whose members opposed
Berlusconi for almost two decades, has said the ouster is
warranted under a 2012 anti-corruption law.

If Letta were to lose a confidence vote, it would be up to
President Giorgio Napolitano to either seek a new majority or
dissolve parliament. Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement, the
upstart anti-establishment party, is the biggest force in
opposition. Grillo, a comedian-turned-political crusader, has
ruled out alliances with other parties.

In all events, “I think an effort will be made by the
president to ensure the survival” of Letta’s government, Monti
said. “Support from some of the parties not supporting the
government at this time might come up on such an occasion.”